A New Legacy
by AgentMaryland93
Summary: What would happen if on his way to Requiem, the Master Chief gets rerouted to Sera? Takes place in Gears of War 1
1. Chapter 1

**I have decided to do another GOWxHalo story, but with a different approach. Now, I will NOT be removing the other crossover story, and I will not be placing this in the crossover section; simply because crossovers are hardly ever viewed. Rarely do I see a crossover in its coordinated section with more than 10 reviews. You also have many questions pertaining to the other stories I have yet to complete. Note that at this time, they are currently underway with being completed. Just have patience. One final note; there are certain stories I have already completed, such as the Halo:CE and Halo 2 story. Do NOT keep asking me when they shall be finished, for they are already completed. It was my fault that I forgot to switch them to completed, as that is not something you remember off the top of your head. Especially when you only see it once, when you start the story. They have been as completed for a few days now. I will try to remember switching them over as I finish updating them. Thank you, enjoy the story. This one has nothing to do with Noble Team or Reach. It is like the few others I have seen, with the Master Chief and the Covenant. It also takes place during Gears of War 1 after Marcus is tasked with finding Alpha when Minh and Colonel Hoffman discuss back up situations. This story will be strictly 3rd person, if I make any mistakes, then I will try to correct them. Do NOT criticize a few small points. There is but a limit to my patience. Auto correct has a mind of its own and I frequently miss certain corrections it makes. Deal with it or don't read my story. The choice is yours. Have a nice day and enjoy the story.**

**Chief&Cortana**

Emptiness. That was what she felt. Not physical. Not per say. The emptiness she felt was that of missing humans. The only living, breathing creature within possibly a light year, was asleep in cryostasis. Through the data pulse, she could feel his heartbeat. Slow and rhythmic. It would have been soothing, if not for the task she knew she was given. To protect him at all costs. She cursed herself. She was becoming unproductive, even in her own form of cryostasis. The ball of energy levitating above the stand in the middle of the room began to disintegrate. Forming into what seemed to be a DNA strand before exploding with light, leaving behind the figure of a naked woman. No, not bare. Perhaps in a jumpsuit. A jumpsuit consisting information, of which traversed her contours faster than the speed of light; though it seemed to move much slower to the human eye. Her blue body eminated a glow throughout the room. Encasing it in a light blue glow, even the cryo tube with the lone figure sleeping soundly inside, was touched by the light. Dark blue eyes scanned over the screen at incredible speed. Scanning diagnostics; weapons systems were down, gravity generator was operating at 34.8%, life support was operating at 46.3%, hull interior-. A warning symbol appeared and the mechanical voice came over the relay. "Warning; planet detected. Crash impact in 15:00 minutes and counting." it blared as the alarms went off.

"Damn it! I have to wake him!" she muttered while going through the list of active cryotubes.

Finally finding the one she was searching for, she chanced a glance at the iced over glass before looking back at the screen and touching the 'Activate' emblem. The button was emitting a red light, meaning it was processing the request. The tube released the high pressure and heat with a loud hiss as the occupant began to move within.

"Chief, wake up. I need you. It's an emergency!" she muttered, knowing full well he heard her.

"Ugh, where are we?" came the gruff and worn response.

"Unknown, but we have to move! We're on a crash course with an unidentified planet!" was his only reply as he reached up and pulled the emergency escape lever which opened the glass door.

She looked about as a loud, screaming whine was heard.

"What was that?" the Chief asked as he searched for a weapon.

"The Dawn is being ripped a part in the atmosphere! We haven't much time!" she informed as he yanked her out of the pedestal.

"Can you track the escape pods?" he asked while running, a bit off balance due to the velocity the ship was falling was causing gravity to come and go.

"There's no chance of survival if you try an escape pod!" she said after calculating the odds.

"Fine, then we'll do this the old fashioned way." he grunted while ripping off a piece of the wall and running for the glass window.

"What are you-" she started as he threw himself out the window and they began their descent towards the planet quickly gaining distance between them.

"Hold on!" he yelled.

"Chief!" was all he heard before blacking out.

**Delta**

Marcus was beginning to sweat in his armor. It was a burning 104 degrees out on the hot Seran day. The sun was right overhead, beating down unmercifully on them. "Lieutenant Kim, what's the time?" he asked while wiping the sweat off his brow.

"13:36 Private Fenix." Kim answered while reloading his gun.

"I hope we find Alpha soon, this heat is becoming unbearable. Even the damn grubs are in hiding." Fenix growled.

"No kiddin, but they can't be far. They're always nearby, even in this heat." Dom agreed.

"You'd think they'd crawl back in their hole, but no." Anthony scoffed.

"Keep on your toes soldiers. Never let your guard down." Kim scolded as Anthony was sitting on a rock.

"We haven't seen any grubs since the last batch in the Sanctuary, relax Lieutenant. If you keep this up, you'll be the first to fry, and I'm not on clean up duty." Marcus sighed while reaching for his water canteen.

He threw it when he found it empty.

"You say I need to keep calm? Speak for yourself Fenix. You're lucky I don't throw you back in Jacinto Maximum Security Penitentiary!" Kim huffed while scouring the perimeter.

"No, I'd be lucky if you did throw me back in Pen. At least I wouldn't be frying my ass off." he retorted.

"Watch your mouth Fenix." Kim scold while getting in his face.

"You don't scare me." Marcus growled.

"Hey, easy guys. We're on the same team." Dom tried to calm the situation before shit really hit the fan.

"Coulda fooled me." Marcus muttered.

"Why I-" Kim started but his communicator went off.

"Lieutenant Minh, we have report of an object in free fall. At this moment, science lead believes it to be an old satellite finally coming down from atmosphere. It's in your immediate vicinity. It's recorded to crash land in about 15 minutes." Anya's calming voice came over the device.

"Will do Miss Stroud. Thank you for the update. We're moving out to find Alpha. We should have an ETA soon." Kim announced.

"Very good. Command out." and with that, the communicator went silent.

"Come on, we gotta move." Kim ordered.

The group began to head through the streets. Being met with a few grubs along the way. Nothing big, just a few Grenadiers. Finally they came to a building where they met a large, dark skinned soldier. He was fighting alone. With Deltas assistance, they finished off the attackers then they proceeded out the back. The sight they were met with was astounding. A large ball of metal and fire was careening towards the ground.

"Pretty." Anthony mused.

"Yeah, well where it lands won't be." Marcus brought up.

"That thing's gonna leave a massive crater. What kind of satellite is it?" Dom wondered.

"I don't think it's a satellite Dom." Marcus pondered while watching it.

"Hey, uh hello? We could use some friggin help!" came the annoyed voice over Cole's communicator.

"Oh, sorry Baird baby! We got a little distracted 's all. We'll be right there!" Cole piped up cheerfully.

They ran towards the building and removed the grubs causing the aggravation. As they sealed up the doors, Marcus stared at the blonde.

"Hey, ass face, take a picture, it last longer." Baird sneered.

"You're Damon Baird." it was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah I am big shot. Now the question is, who the fuck are you?!" the cynical genius snapped.

He was about to make a retort when a loud scream echoed throughout the halls of the building.

"What the fuck was that?" Marcus said quietly.

"Shhhh, be quiet. It's a Berserker. She can hear us. She can _SMELL _us!" Baird hissed as he crouched low.

"Anya, we have a Berserker in the area. Where's our evac?" Marcus hailed.

"No where near you Marcus. I'm sorry, but the Seeders are keeping them at bay. Hold out as long as you can, we're dispatching teams to remove the Seeders." Anya admitted.

Marcus readied his Lancer.

"Don't." came the silent reply.

He looked at Baird, where the advice had come from. The blonde was staring at his Lancer with fear and anticipation.

"What?" Marcus whispered.

"Your bullets and chain saw will do you no good. The bitch's skin is harder than rock. You'll only piss her off." he informed.

"Fuck. Anya, normal bullets do no good." Marcus updated.

"Affirmative Pvt. Fenix. A heated ray from a Hammer of Dawn strike should work quite well." Anya announced.

"Gotcha Anya, we'll lead her outside then bring down the Hammer." Marcus put away his Lancer and brought out the HOD.

"Act quickly Marcus, you'll only have a few minutes before clouds will block off the HOD satellites." Anya finished.

"Alright. You comin Dom?" he asked the male in question.

"Yeah, I'm right behind ya." Dom nodded.

They could faintly hear the ball of fire coming quickly upon Sera. It was getting closer. They had very little time. The Berserker barged through a wall and chased after them without halt. Bashing everything they tried to use to slow her down; pillars, walls, doors. Everything was smashed down. Eventually they came to a courtyard with a fountain. The others came out of the doorway when they had thought it clear. They watched as Dom and Marcus dove out of the way when the giant Locust stormed at them in a stampede of anger.

"Fuck! Marcus, there's no way we're going to be able to fry that bitch! She's to fast!" Dom yelled then dodged as the monster ran at him.

Marcus took aim at the behemoth and pulled the trigger but was met with a _'bzzzt!'. _He looked at the gun then up at the sky; the clouds had completely covered the sky.

"Shit! Guys, the Hammer is down! We ran out of time!" he yelled.

"Now what do we do?! We can't stop her!" Baird yelled out.

Anthony was staring at the sky while all of this unfolded. "Soldier, pay attention!" Kim yelled.

He merely pointed up, all who were paying attention looked up and saw what held the Carmine brothers attention. A small ball of fire was heading right for them.

"Ah shit!" Marcus yelled while diving one final time as the ball of flames struck the ground where the Berserker once stood.

When he was sure it was safe, Marcus got up off the ground. "Is everyone alright?" he asked.

When he got a collective response ranging all near 'yes', he turned his attention to the bloody and smoke filled mess of what struck down on the planet and defeated the mighty beast in one go. It looked to be a pile of rubble at first. Then Baird nudged it with his boot and a part moved rather limply. The blonde noticed and prodded his toe section against the part again. Once more, it shifted, before resting again.

"I think, there's something alive in that pile of shit." he announced.

"No way. Nothing could have survived that fall." Kim inspected the pile and found the Corporal to be correct.

"I'm telling ya, there is something alive in that pile of rubble!" Baird yelled when disbelief crossed the Lieutenant.

Suddenly, they heard a small movement, then the metal sheet went soaring through the air. They watched it embed itself in the concrete wall before looking back to see what had thrown it. In the fraction of a second, all guns were drawn and aimed at their guest. They tracked the movement as a giant figure, clad in green armor got up. Smoke rolling off the metal from the heat. It stared at them through a sheen of faded gold.

"What the hell is that thing?" Kim wondered.

"Some massive Locust?" Dom wondered also.

"No, it came from the sky man. Locust don't come from the sky. Not unless they're on Reavers. They maybe genocidal, but they're not suicidal, at least, not the higher ups. He looks like a really powerful monster or something." Baird studied the giant.

It watched them carefully.

**Chief&Cortana**

They heard movement, faintly, but they heard it.

"Chief? You ok?" he heard as he opened his eyes.

"What happened?" he asked while trying to regain composure.

"Well, after your great plan of jumping out from more than 15,000 miles in the air was successful, you hit the ground and blacked out." the chastising voice of Cortana scold sarcastically through his inner frequency.

He felt weight on top of him. The piece of metal he used to protect himself form burning up in the fall was on top of him. Pinning him down. He felt something pushing against his right leg. Looking over, a normal sized male with weird armor and blonde hair was prodding his leg with his boot. There were others like him standing around. Looking at the ground immediately next to him, there was blood and chunks of flesh everywhere. He had landed on something, and was now marinating in whatever it was' blood. Throwing the metal off of himself, he got up.

"Are they friendly?" he questioned the usually chatty AI.

"Well, they're definitely not insurrectionist. I have no information on this planet or this colony. We're blind for now John." she admitted.

The edges of his mouth twitched into a smirk, she was stumped for once. It was mildly amusing, it would be rather humorous if it weren't for the fact that they could possibly be surrounded by enemies. They were human, no doubt about that. However, not all humans were friendly. He knew this from countless battles over the years.

"How long had I been in cryo?" he asked, just now remembering she never told him.

"Four years, 7 months, 10 days." she read off while checking his suits firmware to make sure he was up for any battles that may be soon at hand.

She had made many modifications over the few years, now she had to make sure none of her hard work fell a part during the crash landing.

He watched their lips move as they conversed, not listening even though he could hear every word. He was brought out of what seemed like a trance when he felt something grab his arm and lift it. Looking over, the human with the sniper and the helmet was inspecting his left arm. Turning it over to see if there was anything there.

"Carmine! Get away! That thing could kill you!" the man with the doo rag yelled.

"Well, it hasn't moved much. Maybe it's a robot!" the helmeted warrior called back.

His voice was rather light. 'A kid? They would throw a kid in the middle of whatever battle was going on?' Though he knew he was one to talk. He was thrown into this entire war at the age of six with about three hundred other children.

"Alright there big fella, state your name and business!" the one with the doo rag commanded.

"Don't you think you should know the target a little more before throwing out orders?" Chief replied.

They all jumped and went on full defense.

"It can talk?" Dom voiced what all were thinking.

"Yes, HE can talk. Though he prefers not to. He's a man of action, not words." Cortana spoke through his communicator which also had a speaker.

"You have a chick in there?" Baird questioned.

"My name is Cortana, I am his AI." came her response.

"An AI?" Dom repeated.

"An Artificial Intelligence? Man, you must be high end. Around here, only command gets AI's." Baird whistled.

"I believe introductions are in order?" Kim impatiently gestured towards Chief.

"My name is designation Master Chief Petty Officer 117 of the UNSC." he replied.

"Um, ok?" Dom scratched his head.

"Just call him Chief." Cortana intervened.

**There's the first chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the next chapter.**

"Ok, uh, Chief was it?" Minh started.

"Affirmative." was his reply.

"I'm Lieutenant Minh Yung Kim. Leader of Delta squad. This is Private Marcus Fenix." he began introducing when Marcus interrupted him.

"We can introduce ourselves Lieutenant. Yeah, I'm Marcus Fenix." Marcus introduced himself.

"I'm Dominic Santiago, you can call me Dom." Santiago announced himself.

"I'm Anthony Carmine sir." the soldier stated proudly.

"You can call me Cole Train my man." the giant soldier chirped happily with a large smile.

"I'm Corporal Damon Baird. Do me a favor and just call me Baird. My mother called me Damon and as far as I'm concerned, I hope she's rolling in her grave." the blonde sneered.

"You're a jolly band of sailors aren't you?" Cortana said sarcastically.

"Listen lady, when you've spent the majority if not all your life on the edge of your toes, you'd unpleasant too." Baird growled.

"Actually, I've never lived, I am an AI, I remain either in a UNSC flag ship or the Master Chief's helmet." she admitted.

"Must be nice, not having to do anything." Dom muttered.

"I busy myself whenever I get the chance. However, Chief here has been fighting wars since he was 14. He's been trained to fight since he was just a kid. If there's any problems you have, he can deal with it." she proudly stated.

No one missed the grunt of annoyance that came from the green armored giant. He clearly did not like the fact he was being gloated to others for his success rate in the field. "Cortana." he said in a tone so serious, it practically killed the wildlife not touched by the blood and now rotting corpse of whatever he landed on.

"Oh come on Chief, you deserve to gloat a little. I mean, who stopped the Covenant's advances hundreds of times? Single handedly I might add. The Marines are proving to be less and less useful in the field these days. Like they lack basic training." she rambled.

"Cortana, enough." he silenced her as he gripped his hands into fists.

"Sorry Chief, I forgot, some of the ones closest to you were lost in that war." she replied.

"Well, if you're as good as your companion says you are, then you can help us in our war." Marcus spoke up.

"If it is a human-human war then I wish to know what it is that the other side is fighting you for so I may evaluate the situation and chose a side best waged." Chief announced.

"No, not human-human, that war ended a few years back between the Coalition and the UIR. Now, it's a new war. One that balances survival and extinction for mankind." Baird replied solemnly.

"The Covenant?" the Chief wondered while looking up in the sky for any sign of the aliens ships.

"Covenant? What's the Covenant?" Dom asked.

"A hostile band of aliens who worshiped an ancient race known as the Forerunners. Re-creators of all sentient life in the Galaxy. These alien worshipers wished to activate an Array known as the Halos. These Halos were designed to wipe out all sufficient life in the Galaxy, prohibiting the Flood from spreading and taking over the Universe. They started a genocidal campaign against the humans, deeming them heretics." Cortana explained in one breath.

"Um, ok then. How long have you been in that suit?" Baird asked, believing him to be crazy.

"Well this suit only about 4 years, 7 months, 5 days. In general, about 29 years, 6 months, 28 days." Cortana calculated.

"Can you lead us to your chain of command? We need to discuss further matters about the state humanity is in on this planet." Chief intervened.

"Yeah, we were just about to head back to command to report in anyway. I mean, your ball of fire that fell from the sky scared off or killed all of the enemies in the area." Dom brought up.

"Yeah, and your giant self just landed on and squished a Berserker like a grape." Marcus added while examining a chunk of the body that was to his left.

"A Berserker? It wasn't your ally was it?" Chief questioned while examining the blood dripping down his armor.

"Oh hell no! We were just trying to figure out how to kill it when you saved our asses!" Baird yelled.

"Sir, how are we going to get out of here? I mean, no Ravens can get within 3 clicks of our location. We're deep into enemy territory sir." Anthony reminded.

"Shit, that's right, and comm is down meaning not a single Seeder is down!" Marcus growled in aggravation.

"We need to head to the Dawn, we can scavenge supplied from what's left. Your ammo is probably either run dry or half way there." Chief advised.

"The Dawn?" Kim wondered.

"The ball of fire that fell from the sky with me." Chief made clear.

"That was a ship?!" Baird yelled in excitement, both astounded and interested.

"Yes, well, the remains of one." Cortana said.

"We need to get there before any hostiles do. We do not need them reclaiming anything from that ship. By the look of the smoke, we're not to far. It shouldn't be more than 30 minutes from its position." Chief inspected.

"Well, we better get a move on, it's already 15:47, the sun sets at 21:00. We don't want to waste any time. We have 5 hours, lets not push it." Kim announced.

"Hard to see in the dark for you boys?" Cortana smirked.

"We wish that was our only problem. When the sun goes down, anywhere dark becomes a grave yard." Baird muttered while following Kim and Cole.

"What do you mean? Wild animals?" Chief wondered what he was up against.

"No, worse. Kryll." Baird informed.

"Kryll?" Cortana spoke this time.

"Yeah, Kryll. These little bat like bastards that can tear anything a part in the blink of an eye. They'd tear their own allies a part because they're always so hungry. Only one creature can control them. General RAAM." Baird growled the name out, like he wanted to tear the creature in question a part with his own two hands.

"Creature? You mean, this General RAAM character isn't human?" Cortana questioned.

"We fight these monsters we call Locust. They're exterminating mankind at every chance. They come from the ground in holes. They burrow under neath the dirt and can pop up where ever they feel like. Like your Covenant, these things will stop at nothing to kill every man, woman, and child." Baird explained on their trip to the Dawn.

"So what I landed on-" Chief started.

"Was the only female gender known in the Locust. They use Berserkers to reproduce." Baird said with a shiver.

"So, the more of those Bersrekers we crush and kill-" Chief started again.

"The less forces the Locust will have." Cortana finished.

"So, you're going to help us?" Anthony hoped.

"Yes, as long as you do one thing." Cortana announced.

"What's that?" Marcus asked with uncertainty.

"You must pledge your allegiance to the UNSC." Chief stated as he stopped at the burning pile of what once was the aft section of the Forward Unto Dawn.

"The UNSC?" Kim asked.

"The United Nations Space Command." Cortana informed them of the acronyms meaning.

"What does this UNSC do exactly?" Dom wondered what they were getting themselves into.

"The UNSC is the main branch of military on Earth and hundreds of other planets. We are still rebuilding, but we can assist you. We had well over 800 colonies before our 20 year war with the Covenant. Now we have about 200. That is still more than sufficient." Cortana explained.

"200?!" they all said in shock.

"Yes. Now, you don't have to answer until we talk to your leader. We need to scavenge right now. The sun is going down in a few hours. It could take a while to search this wreckage. Lets get to work." Chief announced while prying open the door.

The lights still worked, not perfectly, but should the sun go down, the light would shield them from the darkness. Taking that since they were worried about the dark, these Kryll don't like the light very much.

They searched the interior, at first, they found nothing. Just some broken guns and ammo destroyed. Until Cole and Baird flipped over a box and the top popped off revealing a bunch of Assault Rifles and ammo filling the box to the brink. They found a few other boxes just like it containing weapons such as: Battle Rifles, DMR's, a few Rocket Launchers, some Sticky Detonators, and 4 Spartan Lasers.

"This is a good find. Lets check around for any working vehicles." Chief suggested as he lead the way to the garage, which was severed from the half they were on, and there was no light between the gap.

They could see the sun beginning to set. They had to act quickly, it was a matter of time before the Kryll emerged. It picked at Baird's brain why the Seeders weren't inking the sky by ejecting Nemecyst out into the open. He pondered on it even as they made it to the hangar. Chief inspected the lone Pelican and found it to be in flying shape. He also found one working Warthog.

"Chief, this Warthog could come in handy." Cortana advised.

"Just what I was thinking. Alright, listen up. We're going to retrieve those boxes and get them aboard this Pelican. Then we're going to fly out of here and get to your command." he announced.

They all nodded except for Baird, "how are we gonna do that? The sun is down and the Kryll are probably out already! We'll be torn to shreds!" he said with distraught.

"You all will be fine. I won't let you die." Chief said sincerely.

They made their way back to the other side, Kryll flew from left to right waiting for an opportunity. They dragged the boxes and one by one, got them to the other side. Baird was the last one to cross, he was dragging the box with the sticky detonators in it. Unfortunately for him, his box tipped over and got stuck on a rock, prohibiting him from pushing it forward. He struggled to loosen it and heard the infamous noise of the Kryll swooping in for the kill. He looked up to see a giant ball of black evil diving in at him. 'This is it, I'm going to die!' he thought to himself. He closed his eyes and waited for the imminent pain of the little creatures tearing him a part. He heard screeching and felt heat. He slowly opened his eyes and was met with the sight of a green, armor doned back. The Chief had thrown himself between Baird and the swarm of Kryll. The creatures struck at the giant human, but light and heat exploded with every attack. With each strike, groups of Kryll fell to the ground, dead. The group, now diminished by a few thousand, retreated back into the night.

"Are you alright?" came the bored tone of the Chief.

Baird sat there in a state of shock before regaining composure, "yeah, I could have taken them. Ya big show off." he said with a cynical smirk.

"Alright, lets go." Chief announced and threw the box in with the others.

They loaded everything up, even the Warthog and Chief climbed into the pilots chair.

"You know how to fight and pilot this thing?" Kim asked, some what jealous.

"Spartans are trained to be 100% effective and efficient. He is fully combat able, a pilot, a driver, you name it. He can do it." Cortana gloated again.

Chief just sighed as he closed the back hatch to the Pelican and took to the air.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry the updates have slowed to a snails pace! Things have been distracting me! Krieg: NIPPLE SALADS! Me: O^O oh shite. **

**Chief's POV**

The sky was pure darkness. It was like flying through ink! Those Kryll creatures kept smashing into the bullet proof glass of the Pelican. They were highly unintelligent, as they seemed to believe they could smash through. They couldn't even leave a scratch, let alone break through. Baird came through the door and winced as the bat creatures smashed against the window. "Jeez, they're not going to break through are they?" he asked while taking a seat behind me.

"No, this glass is built to withstand head-on collision with debris in space. These little things will just deflect right off of it." I confirmed while adjusting the light level, increasing it did nothing.

"A-alright. You know where you're going, right?" he was paranoid I'd lead us into a trap unknowingly.

"Don't worry there blondie. My navigational programming has already mapped most of the planets surface. The Lieutenant already gave me a heading. So all I have to do is go to the coordinates, all you have to do, is sit and enjoy the ride." Cortana assured as she re-checked the coordinate data.

"Yeah, sure." he was still uneasy.

"How long did you say you've been fighting these things?" I asked, trying to keep him from spazzing out.

"Uh, about, ah Hell, I don't even know! I haven't been keeping track of the passing years. The days seem to repeat themselves. Wake up, grab your gun, kill a few Grubs, and fall asleep in some unknown area." he muttered with a scoff.

"I suppose I could say the same thing. Thirty years and I'm repeating my actions everyday. Though, your enemy seems rather low grade compared to mine." making note of the differences, I didn't fail to notice his annoyed sigh.

"Low grade? They've wiped out millions! Where's the difference?!" he spat, gaining the others attention.

"The difference is; your enemies come from the ground, they adapt by stealing your technology and using it as their own. However, our enemy; comes from space, we dissect their technology to fight against them by upgrading it." Cortana corrected.

"Oh big whoop, they fall from the sky!" he sneered.

"Baird! Shut up!" Marcus growled while grabbing him by the arm and dragging him to the back.

"Lay off Fenix!" he growled while ripping his arm from said mans grasp.

"This man has helped us, saved our lives, and is giving us a ride back to HQ! Now stop being such a damn annoyance!" Marcus grumbled.

"He said his enemies come from the sky! He came from the sky, how do we know that he isn't an enemy?!" Baird shoved him.

"Because he would have killed us immediately!" Marcus shoved back.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Muscles?! What if he's actually just trying to get to command to wipe us out so his buddies can sneak on in and destroy us?!" Baird countered.

"I doubt that, if he had buddies waiting to ambush us, he would have snuck off to try and establish communications with them. He's been with us the entire time!" Marcus re-countered.

"Fine, trust the possibly hostile enemy! When he turns out to be some face eating monster, don't come crying to me! Cause when we die, I'm gonna kick all your spirit asses!" with that, he took a seat and remained silent.

Typing in an override code, I decided to let Cortana fly, she was more than capable. The cabin beeped letting me know that she had taken control as I went into the back. "You're unsure if I'm even human. Especially you, Damon. Let me ease that fear, so that this partnership will go a bit more smoothly." while that sunk in, I removed the clasps holding my helmet to my armor.

They all watched in anticipation as I removed my helmet. Their eyes observing my features. From my short, buzz cut, dirty blonde hair, to the scars across my face and throat, even the piercing blue eyes all Spartan II's have. "Ok, he's definitely not a face eating monster. He's human, but can we trust you?" Baird questioned while looking at my helmet.

"That I can attest to and say yes, however, you look like words, will do no good for your better judgment. I can promise you, you will come in contact with our command as soon as possible." my assuring tone, didn't put him at ease.

"Chief, destination reached at 5.36 miles due west." Cortana announced.

Taking my seat and putting my helmet back on, I turned off autopilot and ran the mandatory landing protocols. Checking the fuel line, nothing punctured. Landing gear, working at 76%, possibly slightly damaged from the crash, they would hold. Emergency lights in case of sight limitation for those on the landing pads, working. The radio buzzed to life, "Unidentified flight vehicle, please gimme the your identification and mandatory code or we will shoot you down!" a gruff voice emerged from the device and Lt. Kim came to the front.

I immediately handed it to him and he clicked it on, "Colonel Hoffman, this is Lieutenant Minh Yung Kim aboard the air craft. Do not shoot. I repeat, do not shoot. We request permission to land on Echo/Alpha/E560. Permission to land sir?" he recited. (yes I made those up.)

"Lieutenant Kim?! Where in Sam's Hell did you find that thing?!" the Colonel asked in shock.

"We will explain everything when we land. Now do we have permission to land?" he repeated.

"Yes, land on Pad 84 on the main building." the officer instructed.

"Thank you sir." with that, he hung it back up.

Pulling back on the throttle, I slowly landed the Pelican on the pad, facing away from the building and turned off the engine. Walking to the back, I opened the rear door and we all walked out. The others walked passed the greeting soldiers, I was stopped them. "Halt!" the one shouted while aiming some assault rifle looking gun at me, it had a chainsaw attached to the bottom.

"Whoa! Easy guys! The big fella is with us!" the Carmine brother tried to reason.

"Who the Hell is he? Where did he come from?" a man with a basic military cap walked up to me.

I looked down at him and took a step back as a sign of respect. I didn't want to make him feel challenged, this was his army after all. "Apologies, sir. My designation is Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, Sierra-117." I saluted.

"Uh huh, well, you got manners at least. Most don't. Come with me boy, the Chairman would probably like to speak with you before any party favors are thrown." he lead me inside the building and to a set of brass double doors.

Two black armored guards opened the door and ushered me inside. More black armored men were standing around two guys, one standing up and one in a chair. "Well, aren't these guys just a bunlde of sun shine?" Cortana muttered.

"Ah, so you are the individual of which Hoffman spoke of. I am Chairman Prescott. This is Colonel Loomis. Where exactly did you come from?" the man in the chair examined me as he spoke.

"I had been tasked with a mission to stop the Covenant. Through a series of events, I was lead to the ring world called Halo. These ring worlds have the power to annihilate all life in known space. The instillation known as Instillation 00, or the Ark, allowed anyone to fire all the Halos at once. I disabled it and my ship was tore in half. My ship, the Forward Unto Dawn, was what crashed on your planet." I explained, trying to keep it brief.

"So, you're not of this world?" Prescott stood up and walked over to me.

"No sir. I was born on the planet Eridanus II, in the Eridani system. Listen, sir, I need to re-establish communications with the UNSC. I need to let them know where I am." my patience was slightly diminishing.

"Why, so this UNSC can overrun us?!" one of the guards shouted.

"At ease soldier!" Loomis snapped.

"With all due respect, if your war is against a non-human, hostile colony, then perhaps they will colonize this planet and assist you, either way, they'll help." Cortana tried to assist.

"What was that?" Loomis asked while looking at me suspiciously.

"My AI companion, Cortana." as I introduced her, she appeared in her normal 6 inch height form.

"An AI? One that can physically attribute itself? There's no doubt about it. Your technology is far superior to ours. If we were to go to war, you would win. We will not, however, join your faction until we talk to your superior." Prescott informed.

"Acknowledged. Then we will assist you until it comes down to what ever is to happen." I nodded.

**This is more of a progressive storyline chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days were void of any real action. We mainly just stayed in the quarters with Delta squad. It annoyed Cortana to no end that there was little to do, sometimes she'd even pick a fight with Baird. As humorous as it was the first couple times, it lost its luster soon enough, especially when he stopped arguing back. Delta's second in command, Dom, voiced often that he was surprised the 'Grubs' hadn't showed much resilience. They had been rather quiet since we arrived at this large city. Large, may have been the wrong word. It was a decent size, but no where near the size of the cities inhabited by UNSC colonies. Places such as New Alexandria on Reach, and New Mombasa on Earth. They had towering sky scrapers, buildings spanning a few hundred floors high. These buildings, even the tallest, seemed to stop at eighty floors. The area the city spanned seemed to also come short of the cities I had ventured during the Covenant-Human war.

A speaker mounted on the wall crackled to life, "all soldiers hear now, dinner hours will commence in approximately 30 minutes. Each group of squads will have 45 minutes to dine before they must make room for the next group. The groups will arrive as listed: Alpha, Bravo, Delta, and Echo, along with Delta's newest addition. Then it shall be: Foxtrot, Gamma, Helo, and Kilo. So on and so forth. When the groups depart, the next squads shall be hailed." the voice of Colonel Loomis boomed out in distinct order.

"Finally! I'm starving!" Baird grumbled while slamming his wrench into a holster on his thigh.

"Alright Chief, looks like it's gonna be eating time soon." Marcus sat up on his cot, preparing to exit upon call.

About an hour later and we were on our way to the mess hall. Soldiers passed us by, finished engorging on their meals. Standing in line, I grabbed a tray and sat down. The meal looking hardly edible to me. "Hey, aren't ya gonna eat?" Baird eyed my food from his seat across from me.

"No thanks. I'm not really hungry." I pushed my tray towards the drooling blonde mechanic who dove right in.

"You should eat, this is one of the few times you'll be able to." Marcus rolled his eyes at Baird who was eating like a slob.

"I'll be fine. My suit might be a bit out of date, but it's still functioning at 87% capacity. My gel suit emits nutrients to feed my body, so I may go months, possibly a year or two without eating." I ran a quick diagnostic on my HUD to make sure nothing had changed.

"Wow, years? That's crazy. What do you do when you have to go to the bathroom?" Dom questioned while taking a bite out of a burger.

"Although it is quite inappropriate to ask during such an event; when I must rid myself of any wastes, I just go. The suit quickly disposes of any and all 'unwelcome' materials." I admitted.

Baird choked, "what?! Really?! You lucky sonuvabitch!" he grumbled then took another bite of a piece of what looked like chicken.

"Although, I'm sure that there are newer models that take care of the wastes more effectively." I looked up as the sky grew dark by a passing collection of clouds.

"Huh, the forecast didn't mention rain." Marcus muttered while staring out the window.

A COG soldier came running in, "NEMICYST!" he shouted as one crashed into him and exploded, sending his body parts flying in different directions.

Everyone dove for their guns, spraying bullets at the incoming sacks. They looked like hot air balloons, they also looked like flying squids. I flipped a table to take cover and the others immediately copied my moves. Soon, all of the tables were flipped on their sides, being used as cover. The soldiers tried their best no to get caught in the fray of ink and death. Some were not lucky, as blood, guts, and limbs littered the floor as evidence. I pulled out my ever ready Assault Rifle and sprayed bullets at the last few targets before I stood up. "Cortana, is that all of them?" I swept the area, examining any area that the creatures could come barreling from.

"Nothing on motion tracker. Looks good for now Chief." she confirmed.

"Alright, is everyone that isn't a bloody mess on the floor ok?" I looked around at the men and women still breathing as Cortana asked them.

"We lost some good soldiers, but the rest of us are ok. Thanks for asking." Marcus nodded as he stood up to also make sure the area was clear.

"Fuck, Nemicyst! If they're around than that can mean only one thing!" Baird growled while tossing a bottle of water at a wall.

"Command, come in command." Kim tried the frequencies, but got static.

"Yup, Seeders." Baird ran his hands through his dirty blonde hair.

"Those things come from the Seeders?" Cortana had been calculating the death ratio of the rooms current deceased.

"They shoot them out of their asses and into the sky." Baird chuckled when the AI went silent.

"I could have totally went the rest of my short life without that image." she cringed.

"Enough, Cortana, any luck with reestablishing communication with NAV?" I asked trying to defuse the slight disturbing conversation.

"Negative Chief, but I have gotten a few stray calls. I'm going to try and activate your recovery beacon (AN: yes I know I got that from Red vs Blue) and see if that gets anyone's attention." she then began the beacon.

No one else could hear it because of the frequency it was placed on.

"So, now we just wait and see if anyone receives it?" I flipped the table back upright.

"Affirmative. Hopefully they don't take to long with finding us." she muttered while once again checking the motion tracker for targets.

"So, how will we know when your rescue team has arrived?" Marcus walked up to me.

"It'll be the only large space ship or collection of ships in the sky." at this confirmation, he nodded.

"Well, now we just gotta clean up this mess the Grubs oh so nicely made." Carmine sighed.

"I got a bad feeling Marcus." Dom looked at his friend.

"Me too. If the Seeders are pushing in this far into human territory, than General RAAM is on the move." he growled at the thought of the giant monster.

"If he shows up, we'll take care of him. Won't we Chief?" Cortana sounded sure of herself.

"We will, nothing threatens humanity while I live in this Universe." I clenched my hand into a fist and slammed it down on the table, breaking it in half.

**Sorry about the POV style switch, I try to avoid it but sometimes I don't pay attention. Sorry.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Why do I feel like this story pales in comparison to the ones I've read ;_;. Anyway, I do apologize that updates are varied and are only coming out for certain stories. I'm trying to update them as I can. So, enjoy.**

Hoffman had been given orders to dispatch teams out into enemy territory. Their goal was to clean up the frequencies. The way that was going to happen? Kill the Seeders. He began dispatching the squads into the Raven pads. Delta was heading to the Raven when they passed by me.

"Hey, Chief, where ya goin man?" Dom stopped and turned to the giant soldier.

"Cortana thinks that maybe I can boost my suits frequencies if we hook up my communicator to the Dawns radio network." I explained as I headed to my Pelican.

"Oh, well, good luck. I hope everything works our for you. We'll be in sector 9, that's due South-South West from here. Feel free to drop on in when you get done." he waved while heading back to the Raven.

"Copy that. Good luck on your mission." the back to the Pelican closed up as I sat in the pilots seat.

The ride was much different without the annoying blonde criticizing everything. It was quiet. Lonely almost. Except for that fact Cortana was with me. Why was she so quiet? "Cortana?" I didn't have to look up, I knew no matter what, she could hear me.

"Hm?" her mother like voice hummed through my internal speaker.

"You're quiet, that's not like you. What's up?" my voice held no worry, though I'm sure she felt it.

"I'm just worried about whether or not we'll be able to get into contact with the UNSC." she voiced.

"We'll get through." was my simply put answer.

"I hope so. If I've done my math correctly, and I'm sure I did, I'-_**WE HAVE ASKED YOU TO GIVE UP YOUR FAMILY, YOUR CHILDHOOD, YOUR FUTURE!**_" her voice distorted.

"Cortana?" I pulled her from my helmet.

She appeared in her usual form on the chip, "sorry, the crash must have messed me up. I'm fine, **really.**" she smiled, though I didn't fall for it.

"Cortana." my firm voice told her she couldn't fool me.

"I was put into service eight years ago, Chief." she bean while fidgeting.

"Eight years, but I thought-" I looked at her in worry.

"Yeah, you thought right. AI's deteriorate after seven. I'm going rampant John." her voice lowered to a whisper as she looked up at me.

"I won't let that happen!" a growl entered my tone as my body tensed.

"John, this is one thing that you can't punch, shoot, or break. Rampancy is a stage in an AI's life cycle. You can't stop it. It WILL happen." she tried to stay strong, though I knew she wanted to cry.

"Halsey." I muttered.

"What?" she wiped her eyes as tears formed.

"Halsey, she made you, she can fix you." I looked to her, certain that the doctor could in fact fix this.

"Chief, please. There's no fixing rampancy. Besides, we don't even know where she is. The last I saw of her, she was getting on a Pelican with Spartan designation 266, Jun. I can only assume she went to Castle Base. From there? I haven't the slightest idea where she could be." she sat down on her chip.

"I don't care if I have to search the ends of the Universe to find her! I will locate her and she will fix you!" she was shaken by my determination.

"John?" she whispered, startled by my reaction.

"You are my best friend, Cortana, I am supposed to protect you. I will not let you die! Not even by something I can't stop! We will get in contact with the UNSC, and we WILL find Halsey!" my hands clenched, almost breaking the handle on the emergency lever.

"John, it's our job to protect one another. We have for years. Always having each others backs. Even when I doubted you'd come back for me on High Charity. You did. You kept your promise. I was right in choosing you." her voice was soft, not a whisper, but it held true emotion.

Though she was but an artificial intelligence, she was more human than machine. She felt emotions, happiness, sadness, anger, but right now, she felt fear. Fear for her life. Her life, which was on the brink of death. I had to find Doctor Halsey before time ran out.

Without realizing it, we had covered the entire distance between the Seran city and the Dawn. Lowering the bird, the hatch in the back opened. The sun at mid-day beat down overhead. The door I had opened, lay dented in its fixed position. "Great." I muttered while grabbing my Assault Rifle from my back.

"Chief?" Cortana piped up.

"We have visitors in the Dawn." clicking on the flashlight on the front,

"Any ideas on who it could be?" she searched the radar for any blips.

"No clue, keep eyes on monitor. I'll scout." this was usual tactic, she watched my radar, I scoped the area with my eyes.

"Affirmative." came her response as I moved in.

Making my way to the transmissions room, I scouted around. "Cortana, wouldn't communications lines be in the front section of the ship?" the question emerged as we got closer.

"Yes, but the Dawn has back up frequency transmitter boxes near the engine core. We should be able to tap into one of the frequencies and get a hold of the UNSC. Hopefully. Assuming your luck holds up." she tried a wit of sarcasm to lighten the mood.

"How much further?" though it wasn't dark, I was getting anxious.

"Turn the next corner down the hallway, then it should be the fourth door on the left. You know, the one marked ' Emergency Transmission receiver'?" she scanned the surroundings one more time.

I pried open the door, it was seemingly empty inside. Scanning the area, it was clear, for the moment. I quickly pulled out her chip and placed it in the slot on the panel. She popped up and while I scouted to make sure it was in fact clear, she ran through the diagnostics to make sure we were good to go.

"Any luck?" I finally came back, having found the entirety empty.

"We are in business. One of the transmitters is still operational. Working at 53% capacity. That's more than enough. Linking the signal strength to your suit. Patching through to a UNSC frequency. There, we have hailed the UNSC Infinity. The connection's a little, choppy, but it's better than nothing. Right?" she shrugged while stepping back.

"UNSC Infinity, this is Spartan-117, Master Chief of the Forward Unto Dawn. Do you read?" I called out, the overlapping communication echoed back to me.

"Negative, copy, did you say For-rd Unto D-wn? That sh-p has been decl-ed MIA for f-ur years!" came a distorted voice.

"Affirmative, this is the Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan Class two. Sierra one-one-seven. Hailing from a non-UNSC colonized planet." the frequency cleared up, but only a bit.

"Mas-er Chief? What are your co-nates son? We will be on station as soon as possible. What is your lo-tion?" the man called.

"Who am I speaking to?" this would have been first priority, but my mind was a bit scattered.

"Captain Del Rio of the Infinity." the signal was clearing up more and more.

"I will have my companion give you coordinates now." I turned to Cortana and saw her staring at idle space, she was already on it.

"There! Coordinates transmitted." she smiled after a few seconds.

"Affirmative. Coordinates received. We will be in orbit in due time. Please maintain constant communication." the Captain ordered while giving orders in the background to initiate hyper jump.

"Affirmative sir. These locals have a trouble not unlike ours with the Covenant. Will need immediate contact from you with their command." when I announced this, he went silent.

"You've made contact with the locals? Are they human?" he asked.

"Other than being slightly barbaric in their tactics of killing? Yes. They are quite human sir. Though I can't say much for their technological advances. They seem pretty basic." Cortana nonchalantly read off.

"Affirmative. We have entered jump, ETA is about five hours." the Captain announced.

"Five hours sir?" I was shocked, had there been that many upgrades since my disappearance?

"Yes soldier, five hours. We will see you then." the transmission continued, but no one spoke.

"Cortana, anyway we can carry this transmission out of the Dawn? We need to get back to command and inform them our help is on the way." she stood there, running calculations no doubt.

"Hm, it seems as though the frequencies have cleared up perhaps we could chance it." she nodded while setting up the connection.

"Hey, is anybody out there?! We could use some fucking help!" a rough voice called over the communicator.

"This is Spartan one-one-seven, I'm standing by, ready to assist." it was second nature to respond as such.

"Chief, am I glad to hear your voice! We are in the shit up to our necks out here! We need assistance, like NOW!" came Baird's sarcastic, yet distressed voice.

"As much as I hate agreeing with the blonde genius, he's right. We could really use some assistance!" Marcus agreed as he took control of the conversation.

"Send me your coordinates, I'll be along shortly." removing Cortana from the panel, I headed back towards my Pelican.

I was stopped when I saw a group of humanoid creatures with leathery hides. They looked at me and screamed, "GROUNDWALKER!" before opening fire on me.

Their bullets bounced off my shields, there was no where to hide. The metal that had broken off from the ship had been sitting in the area. It was now gone. The metal erupting from their guns was wearing down my shields at an alarming rate. They were now at 32% capacity and dropping. I began returning fire, the bullets from my gun doing five times more damage. It tore them a part, blood and limbs scattered the make shift battlefield. I finally found a hiding spot, a rock ten feet to my left. My Assault Rifle needed to be reloaded, so I took the opportunity to dive for cover. Removing the empty cartridge and sliding in a new one, I checked the screen for confirmation. Nodding when it lit up '32', I aimed over the rock. There was but three of them left. That is, until a hole opened up in the ground, about five climbed out. They were more heavily armored than their friends. They had weird guns that were glowing yellow.

"Chief, GET DOWN!" Cortana yelled out.

I ducked as something glowing barely missed my head. It embedded itself in the Dawn's outer hull. Some sort of arrow, which exploded.

"What is it?" I asked her while leaning over the rock again and picking off the one that almost stuck me with that arrow.

"Some sort of combusting arrow. I would advise NOT letting one of those touch you." she was watching the radar still.

"No kidding. These guys with the arrow guns, they're tough to take down." I removed the once again empty clip and placed a new one in.

"I'm guessing that's why they came." she stated the obvious.

"Well I only have two more clips, and it takes one to kill them. I'm going to have to improvise soon." she acknowledged my lack of ammunition.

"There's still four to go. Not to mention, there's still the three guys from before." she read off.

Using one clip, I picked off the three little guys before reloading and taking out one of the newer enemies. My AR was now completely out of ammo. Looking around, I saw it out of the corner of my vision. It was a left over Sticky Detonator, with three explosive bolts left scattered around. Waiting for them to reload, I ran from cover and grabbed the small weapon. Loading a bolt into the barrel, I aimed and shot. The explosive sticking to the one on the right's chest. It blinked as the creature screamed. With the flex of my finger, the small device exploded; it knocked the other two down. They clearly were now pissed off. For when they stood back up, they unleashed another flurry of bullets. My shields had already refilled, so I could take it, for a while. They dropped to 76% as I loaded another bolt onto the barrel. Taking aim again, I shot, though they got smart. This one they dodge, though it didn't save them. It landed on a rock behind them. Pulling the trigger, it blew the ones lower half clean off. He tried to crawl back to the hole as I loaded the last bolt onto the gun. Shooting the dazed enemy that was still intact, it beeped as the monster tried to rip it off. I simply walked passed it, making my way to the last trying to escape. After a few more seconds, it self detonated, coating the ground in more blood. I stood over the last one, placing my boot on its back.

"YOU WILL PERISH GROUNDWALKER! OUR QUEEN WILL ENSURE OUR TRANSCENDANCE! THE OVERWORLD WILL BE OURS!" it growled at me.

"You threaten humanity. I can not allow this. This 'Queen' of yours will be dealt with by our forces. My allies will see to that." with that being said, I lift my foot before stomping down on its back.

I could feel Cortana flinch as its back snapped and it died.

"And I called these outsiders barbaric." she muttered.

"We need to get moving. Give me a heading on Delta Squads position." was all I said while looking for a weapon.

"We need to head five miles South-south West." she confirmed as I grabbed the glowing gun from before.

"What is this thing?" I pondered.

"Some sort of crossbow. Unconfirmed. I'll run a blueprint scan of it on the way there. Maybe our friends will know what it is." with the battle finished, I got back in the Pelican, she was getting low on fuel.

We would probably have to ditch her soon. Probably wouldn't even make it to the destination. I detached the Warthog still on the back. It had a mostly full tank of gas. It would do. I quickly checked the chaingun on the back, it was ready to go. If we needed, we could always come back for the tank. There was a large roar in the distance, the direction Delta was at. Changing my mind, I headed back into the garage and jumped in the tank. It had a good sum of gas as well, more than 3/4's tank, but not full. It would do. I hooked up the Warthog's tow hooks to the back of the tank, letting the gear rest in neutral. I drove off towards my destination, and when I reached it; I was glad I brought the tank. There in front of me, was a 30 foot tall behemoth, fully armed. The tanks gas line was almost run dry, I'd have to be quick in taking this thing out.

**Ugh, sorry I'm ending it here, my backspace button is pissing me off.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, hopefully my backspace button won't irritate me, though I have a headache. I hope that won't deter this chapter.**

Looking over, Delta was taking refuge behind some building debris. Though it was smoldering from the constant chaingun fire which was coming from the monsters knuckles. It had chaingun barrels strapped to it's hands. A giant rocket pod rest on its massive back with two large tanks. It stopped shooting, scanning the area. When it saw me, it opened its giant maw and let loose a soul shattering roar. Unlike the others, however, I was not shaken in the least. I had dealt with much worse, things much bigger than this little gecko. The Scarab was at least twice the size of this behemoth, and twice as strong.

Aiming the tanks canister at it, I simultaneously clicked the red buttons at the top of the U shaped handle. A loud, piercing shriek erupted as a shell flew from the tip. It hit the monster dead in the face, enveloping it in a cloud of fire and smoke. It hadn't effected it in the slightest, just leaving a dent in the face plate. The metal covering its eyes was scorched, some of it was melting, the rest was red hot from the explosion. I shot two more shells before the tank ran out of gas and shut down. Neither one did much more good than the first.

Climbing out of the hatch, I hid behind the tank for cover, though that wasn't a very bright idea as it began peppering the armored vehicle with its chainguns. Diving out of the way, I landed near the Warthog I had brought with me. Jumping into the back, I turned the tri barreled gun towards the giant and began shooting its chainguns. It wasn't long before they began to smoke, eventually leading them to blow up. Another ground shaking roar erupted from its mouth; it clearly was not happy I had destroyed its main form of offense. Taking a steadying stance, the missile pod aimed at the Warthog and let loose a barrage of rockets.

I decided this was an excellent time to ditch the car, which it was. Jumping out, I rolled as the vehicle was sent soaring through the air, exploding as it hit the ground. In front of me, the Scorpion exploded as a giant foot stepped down on it, once more, a roar was heard. Looking up, the creature towered above me, lifting its leg to step on me. It howled in annoyance as bullets hit its fleshy thigh, the foot landing but ten feet to my right. "Come on man! Get out of there!" Baird shouted while reloading his Lancer.

Pushing myself off the ground, I sprinted over towards them, tossing myself into their make shift hiding area. "What is that thing soldiers?" Cortana questioned while running a check on my status.

"Fucking Brumak crashed the party about a couple hours ago. We've been hiding here for about five or so hours." the blonde sighed, my scanners didn't have to tell me his heart was racing, I knew it had to have been.

"So, the armored alien from space couldn't stop it, now what?" Cole looked around to make sure no visitors popped up.

"Well, my search team should be here soon, they can provide assistance." I pulled out the arrow gun I had confiscated.

"I'm gonna guess you ran into some trouble?" Marcus eyed the weapon.

"Yeah, what is this thing?" I turned it over in my hands, Cortana couldn't get any information on it.

"That's a Torque Bow, which means you encountered the oh so lovely Theron Guards." Baird grumbled while wiping the sweat off his face with a dirty cloth.

"They have tough resilience." I noted while loading the only arrow I had into it.

"No kidding, when the Theron show up, all hell breaks loose!" the blonde stuffed the cloth into a pouch.

"Well, it looks like we are going to die. It's been nice knowing you all." Carmine sighed while clutching his LongShot to his chest.

A slipspace rupture exploded in the sky, emerging from the hole, was an enormous ship. UNSC Infinity was emblazoned on the side in big, white lettering.

"Please tell me that is your search team." Marcus muttered while staring at it.

"It is. UNSC Infinity, this is the Master Chief, we could really use some heavy fire power on our location!" I activated my communicator and waited for reply.

"Master Chief, this is Commander Lasky, Captain Del Rio is in the conference room right now explaining why we jumped to unknown space rather than home. I do hope you have a god excuse for the oldies back home." came a light reply.

"I will explain later, right now we are being pinned down by a Brumak, a local enemy force. We need heavy fire power ASAP." my usual calm tone resided as I waited for confirmation.

"Alright, sending down a little present for you, I'll converse with the Captain about it later. Just point and shoot, we'll do the rest." Lasky announced.

There was a loud boom, followed by a shriek as something fell from the sky. We all watched as something entered low atmosphere and crashed into the ground about fifteen feet away. It was a canister, a weapon storage. It opened up to reveal a target designator. Grabbing it, I aimed at the mighty Brumak and pulled the trigger. On my HUD, a red triangle with an exclamation mark appeared where I painted it.

"Hold onto your teeth folks, this is gonna get loud." Lasky called while a rumbling sound was heard.

A beam of light formed in the front before to lasers shot off at the giant lizard. It screamed in agony before collapsing. The beam let off a loud scream as it tore through the flesh and bone, then weakened in strength as it shut down.

"What the fuck was that?!" Marcus turned to me while astounded.

"First time I've ever seen a MAC blast like that." was all I muttered while standing up.

"This is Captain Del Rio, son, I'm coming down there and we're going to have a nice, long chat." the annoyed voice of the Captain cut through like a vice.

Two Pelicans flew down, landing near us. Both opened up, in one, it was just a bunch of Spartans, who aimed their weapons at the Gears. The other, contained the Captain and the Commander. Both of which came over to me.

"Master Chief, do you mind explaining to me what exactly you were doing chatting on an open communicator? Especially on an non-UNSC colonized planet or sector of the Galaxy?!" Del Rio screamed in my face, spit hitting my visor.

"Captain, sir, there was no other way for him to get in contact with us. Open comms are for emergencies, this classifies as an emergency." the Commander, Lasky, tried to calm the leader with logic.

"Well then maybe next time he gets himself stranded on an unknown planet, he stays that way! Stranded!" the Captain shoved passed the other as he stepped back on the Pelican.

"Sir-" the Commander started to protest.

"Commander Lasky, Article three dash nine, section four hundred and twenty-six dictates that no one, NO ONE, is to hail from an open frequency. You of all people have read the books. I want this aging Spartan and his friends placed in the brig. I want him stripped of his suit and any gear he may have on him." the Captain barked as the back closed and the Pelican took off.

"Commander?" I looked down at the man.

"I have read the books, one thing he's forgetting is on the very next page it states that all stranded militia are to be sentenced a hearing before being sent to the brig. No exceptions." he smiled while heading to the other Pelican, the rest of us in tow.

"Great, we're going to be sent to in intergalactic prison! What will mama think!?" Anthony had taken to pacing the floor in anticipation.

"You're not going to prison, trust me." I tried to calm the young soldier.

"How do you know!?" he shouted before ripping off his helmet.

His short, red hair was sweaty, his green eyes full of worry. He had a few freckles on his face, his child like face. My mind drifted back to when I conscripted into the UNSC. All those other children that made it with me into the program. They were all dead now. Most died during the initial testing. The rest, died trying to stop the Covenant. I can only imagine what these guys must have gone through. They didn't have to go through becoming a Spartan, but it seemed like anyone about the age of sixteen was allowed into the army. One or the other. COG vs UIR. Now both had to work together, after ages of fighting each other. Most weren't happy about fighting alongside one another, but they had no choice. It was fight side by side, or fight each other while being wiped out by the underground terror. A losing battle, no matter how it went. It seemed everyone on this forsaken planet, was doomed.

I was shaken t reality when I heard Cortana's voice. She was trying to get me to move. I looked around, the Spartans were aiming their weapons at me, thinking I was trying to escape. I shook my head in disappointment at the mutiny and stepped off the back. They had placed the Gears in cuffs. The others were annoyed by this, though Baird was marveling at the technology.

"Baird, can you stop drooling over their tech for like five fucking seconds?" Marcus barked at the blonde man.

"Fine mother!" the man snapped as he stood straight in the conference room.

"Commander Lasky, what exactly am I looking at? Renegades? Insurrectionists?" a woman on the holo viewer scanned the men before her, me included.

"Negative ma'am. This is Spartan one-one-seven. The Master Chief. As you know, he went MIA about five years ago after destroying project Specter-Installation 00. Only the Arbiter made it back alive, we had believed John-117 to be terminated. Instead, the Forward Unto Dawn seemed to have drifted off to this planet, marked designation Sera. These are a small group of the locals." Lasky informed, his hands crossed behind his back in respect.

"I see, so these are not Insurrectionists then, they are unknown. Introduce yourselves please." the woman crossed her arms, and her legs while leaning back in her chair.

"Marcus Fenix, Sergeant, leader of Delta squad, designation: the Coalition of Ordered Governments." Marcus stood strong, not intimidated in the least by the superior.

"Dominic Santiago, Corporal, second in command." he too stood firm. (AN: I'm unsure if his rank is Corporal. Don't hurt me!)

"Private Augustus Cole ma'am." the big man nodded, a smile on his face.

"Corporal Damon Baird." he looked rather bored, and annoyed.

"Private Anthony Carmine, sir!" he was scared as he tried to salute her, though his hands were cuffed.

"Hmm, what is the status of the planet?" she inquired as she grabbed some papers and began writing while simultaneously typing on a holographic keypad to a computer.

"We're at war with an inhumane, genocidal band of monsters known as the Locust. They come from the ground, attacking in giant swarms of ugly monstrosities! We're on the verge of extinction, most of humanity was wiped out on E-Day." Baird explained.

"Hmm, interesting. Then they are indeed no different than us but twenty or so years ago. I will confer with the counsel, and we will get back to you immediately." she went to end the transmission.

"Ma'am, Captain Del Rio made mention that he would have rather left the Master Chief here, stranded. Because he used an open frequency to get in contact with us." Lasky brought up hastily.

"Pardon? He what?" she looked at him in astonishment.

"Affirmative, he said the next time Chief did something like that, he'd leave him." the Commander nodded.

"I will bring that up during the conference with Command. I will get back to you soon. In the mean time, get in contact with the local superiors. See to it our guests are properly tended to." with that being said, she terminated communications.

"And you though we were going to jail." Baird sneered at the youngest of the group as Spartans un-cuffed them.

"You seem to have a reputation that earned you high respect." Marcus noted while looking at me as he rubbed his wrists.

"Well, when you've saved the Universe a couple hundred times, that tends to happen. I mean, he even saved my ass personally back on Circinius IV." Lasky smiled before heading out.

**I'm probably not gonna do any grammar sweeps on this one.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about the long wait everyone. Been kinda busy with another story.**

**Chief's POV**

A silver armored Spartan IV walked in, an Assault Rifle in her hands. Her armor, though upgraded, resembled the Scout modification.

"Hello there, my name is Sarah Palmer; Commander Sarah Palmer. I lead all Spartan teams on deck. I am to lead you to the designated quarters where you will stay until command has decided what to do with this little 'field trip' you pulled us on." she attempted to make eye contact with me, to the best of her abilities.

"Apologies. I didn't mean to cause any trouble." she walked around me, studying me.

"Huh."

"Ma'am?"

"I thought you'd be a lot taller. Maybe a bit more muscular too."

"Excuse me?"

"We caught a group of Unggoy a while back. They were recorded during their stay in the brig. Thy spoke mainly of the 'Demon in green.'"

"Not surprising. According to the Arbiter, the Grunts were highly fearful of me."

"What they said was pretty funny."

"What did they say?"

"Ok, I'm lost. What are Unggoy? Grunts?" Baird stepped forward, his physical stature told that he demanded an explanation.

"Unggoy are the cannon fodder of the Covenant. They're about as tall as an average male. Standing at about five feet and five inches, varying."

"Can we view the recording of these creatures?" Marcus looked at her as he stepped forward.

"Sure, why not. Follow me."

She lead us down the hall. We passed a great number of rooms before stopping at one. When the door slid open, she motioned for us to sit around the table. Taking our seats, she typed an access code on a panel. A screen emerged from the wall.

"Roland. Play the recording of our Covy guests."

"Yes ma'am." looking around, I searched for the voice.

"What the-? Who was that?" Baird was on edge.

"Hm, interesting. This ship has a high level, fully integrated, smart AI." Cortana rambled as sh admired how far the UNSC has come.

No doubt that gave her hope of being fixed.

The screen flickered before showing the UNSC designated logo. Then a clock appeared, showing when it was recording. In the room the three Unggoy sat corralled together.

"They don't look so tough." the blonde next to me muttered.

"Not alone, but in great numbers, they deal a lot of damage." Sarah corrected him.

"Holy shit, she heard me?"

"Spartan's have increased levels of hearing and sight. Reflexes are also highly improved." Cortana as quick to respond to his question.

Everyone went silent as the recording started.

"You think they feed us to Demon?"

"I hear he missing!"

"Me hope so. Me no want to be eaten by monster human!"

"I hear he eats Grunts for breakfast!"

"Me hear he eats Elites while he on the go fighting us!"

"Do he eat Brutes?"

"Me no know. Probably not. Brutes taste bad me think."

"They too stupid. I hear human say they look like monkeys."

"What a monkey?"

"It look like human but covered in hair."

"That sound right for Brute! They covered in hair!"

The three shared a laugh but went silent as a guard approached the door.

"Alright you three. You're going to talk to the Captain, any funny business, and you'll be full of more holes then swiss cheese!"

The recording ended and Baird was muffling laughs.

"So, lemme get this straight. They think you eat them?" he wiped a tear from his eye while looking at me.

"Apparently."

"If only we could scare the grubs like that! They eat us though. Not the other way around." Carmine looked at the frozen screen.

"The Grunts are the only ones that are like that. The other species aren't as easily terrified." Palmer stood from her seat and motioned for us to follow her.

"It's not just one species, we get that part. The Locust are also made up of different creatures. So, what else is there?" Dom spoke for the first time since the session with Admiral Osmen.

"Well, there are no more Brutes. We stopped encountering them after hero boy here," she nodded in my direction, "blew up the Ark."

"So that leaves?" my question caused her to stop and turn to face me.

"There are somethings you must understand, Master Chief, or should I call you John? Seeing as they're probably going to relieve you of duty."

"Relieve me of duty?" both mine and Cortana's voice showed the same level of shock.

"You are the only active duty Spartan II still alive. The S-II program has been long since considered, obsolete. You are out of date. There is a slim chance they'll toss you into the Spartan IV program, but it is very slim. Though, don't rule it out. You are an active veteran."

"A lot has changed n the time I've been gone."

"It has. Anyway, the Covenant. Elites, Grunts, Jackals, and Hunters. No Brutes, no sign of Drones, and we stopped encountering Skirmishers on Reach in 2552. They also seem to have stopped use of Scarabs, opting instead to use what the egg heads have labeled as a Liche. Their weaponry is still the same, save for one new gun. It replaces the Plasma Rifle. Fire team Majestic retrieved it for study. They're calling it the Storm Rifle. Just like they're calling this new Covenant the 'Storm Covenant'."

"I thought we had a truce with the Elites?"

"Apparently, a group of Sangheili still holding respects to those Prophets, have made a new Covenant. Their leader, Jul M'Dama, has been gallivanting the galaxy causing all sorts of trouble for the UNSC."

She lead us passed the science wing, to which Baird stopped and stared at the steel door.

"Hey Blondie, you coming? Or have your legs stopped working?" the commander peered around us at him.

"Oh man, this is like a dream come true! People with an intelligence span much like my own!"

"Oh great, another geek. Go on in, but don't touch anything! Roland, please inform Commander Lasky of blonde boys position."

"Aye Commander Palmer. Commander Lasky will be notified once he is available."

"Alright. Now, if anyone else would like to halt us?" she waited for anyone to speak up.

"Where are we going?" the small, innocent voice of Anthony emerged from the rear of the group.

"On a tour of the ship. She's pretty big."

"Oh, alright. Please continue."

She gave us a once over glance before turning and continuing on her way. She showed us many areas of the Infinity. The armory, the Spartan Deck, the War Games simulator dome; at which, Cole decided he wanted to hang around. There were many zones we were not allowed to go, such as the hangar deck, unless we were assigned to a running squad, or were assisting a Fire Team. We eventually encountered one of the teams. Majestic.

"Fire team Majestic. Good to see you're all alive and in one piece." she approached them.

"Commander Palmer. Permission to ask a question?" the leader stepped forth.

"Permission granted."

"Who're the losers behind you?" the soldier to the left of him stifled laughter.

"Well DeMarco, these 'losers' are the natives of the planet beneath your feet. The Spartan accompanying them, is none other than Spartan-117."

They all stood straight and saluted me after scrambling to get in line. They looked nervous; their limbs trembled and their feet stumbled as they tried to act as Spartans should.

"These are the new line of defense for the UNSC? Not to be offensive, Commander, but I've seen animals show more respect." I nodded my head in agreement with Cortana.

These new soldiers looked nothing like the Spartan-II's. We were raised knowing a few select laws to abide by. Such as: Always respect your superiors. Never speak unless given permission to. Never talk out of line. Disrespect was punishable by the level of sass given.

These Spartan's; if they could be called that, were something of a disgrace to the soldiers who gave their lives so they could live.

"Master Chief, this is Paul DeMarco, leader of Majestic."

"Some leader." one of the soldiers in the line scoffed.

DeMarco growled at him.

"Spartan Thorn? Do you have something to say about your leader? Do you deem him unfit to lead your team?" Palmer addressed him, motioning for him to step forward.

"Yeah, I deem him unfit to lead Majestic! If it weren't for his lousy leadership skills, we probably wouldn't get our asses kicked by Crimson every time. Don't get me wrong, Crimson is a great team. I have no biff with them what so ever. However, I do get quite tired of listening to our fearless 'leader' complaining about losing to them every single time!"

"Do you believe DeMarco should be replaced?"

"Yes."

"By whom?"

"Hell, if you're offering and he's willing, we'd like the Master Chief."

"Good luck with that kid. It took one hell of a fight to get him to have me along side him." Cortana was unusually happy for being an AI ready to cease working.

"You must be the famous Cortana, AI of Dr. Catherine Halsey." Thorn stepped forward, extending his hand for me to shake.

Accepting the gesture, we shook and he stepped back in line.

"I still have to wonder. We have been trying to advance ourselves in technology for as long as I can remember. How is it you are so far ahead?" Marcus directed his question to all, not really caring who was to be the one to answer.

"Our studies were rushed for enhancement when the Covenant attacked in 2525. Our simple war ways were no match for their superior tech. They destroyed colonies left and right, until the Spartan project was finished. The original Spartan-II's were lethal and effective. Though as we upgraded, so did they. They had one thing we didn't though. A tap to weapons and material far superior to both the human race and the Covenant cult. They were dissecting and re-engineering this tech, Forerunner technology was at their disposal. We did have an advantage, however. It seems this Forerunner hardware will only activate to its full potential to a humans touch."

"Ancient technology, built by aliens, that only reacts to human touch?" Dom pieced it together in simplified terms.

"Exactly. We don't know how it's possible, but hell if we care. As long as it only reacts to us, I'm fine with that."

"Amen sister." the soldier with the Operator helmet nodded in agreement.

"It's only a matter of time before we destroy those Covie freaks for good."


End file.
